I decided to make this chapter a little happier, since everything has been so sad.

The rest of the week passed hazily, with nothing particularily memorable, except for when James and Sirius let off a load of fireworks in the dungeon, conviently near Snape's classroom, landing them detention Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons.

Finally, Friday had arrived. Harry ate quickly and was on the pitch by quarter to seven. The rest of the team, which consisted of Alicia, Katie, and Ron showed up moments later.

Harry quickly went over the procedure with them. They were going to bring out each student and have them do a brief flying exercise to see how they fare on a broom. Then they would do a position drill, either a Chaser one (seeing how many goals one can score in two minutes) or a Beater one (seeing how long the student can block blows from a Bludger).

Two minutes after seven, the students began to arrive. Harry began to put them into two lines, a 'Chaser line' and a 'Beater line'. Sirius and James were among the first to arrive, and parted ways; James, to the Chaser line, and Sirius, to the Beater line. Harry also spotted a familiar red-head in the Beater line.

After students stopped coming, Harry explained how they were going to choose the new players. The current team was going to vote after the tryouts.

Harry brought up the first person; a second year by the name of Emma Jamerson. She was trying out for Beater, and Harry wasn't too sure about her. She was awfully small and frail looking.

She fared well on a broomstick, but did dismally on the Beater drill.

Harry pulled up the next person, a fourth year. He did horribly on both of the excercises.

The next person up was Sirius. He was undoubtedly better than the other two, and probably the best that showed up that night. Harry was deeply impressed.

So it continued. Ginny was one of the last students up, and she did well also. Harry finally moved on to the Chaser line.

James stuck out like a sore thumb; he was easily the tallest and oldest person in the line. Harry smiled slightly at this, and began the process of drilling the contestants.

Harry looked close to tears by the time James stepped up. The students, whether they knew it or not, were horrible. Harry felt like they would never get a new Chaser.

But James was an excellent Chaser. He handled the Quaffle well, could do excellent dives and turns, and had a good arm. Harry knew who he would be voting for.

Around eight forty-five, the tryouts were over. The last of the students were leaving as the team stepped into the locker room to begin the choosing.

"Okay," Harry said, holding his clipboard as soon as the other three got settled down. "Beaters first... Emma Jamerson?"

No hands went up.

"Peter Crawkson?"

Once again, no hands went up.

So it continued until Sirius's name was called. All four hands were raised for him; he had undoubtable talent for the position. Harry wondered if he had played in his time.

"Okay, it's time to choose the second Beater."

Harry ran through the list. Alicia, Ron, and himself raised their hands for Ginny, while Katie preferred a fifth year by the name of Erica Richardson. Ron argued exstensively, and Ginny won by majority rules.

The team, finally done, trudged back up to the castle, only to be met by a wave of students.

"QUIET!" roared Harry, and the students fell silent. "You'll find out tommorow. Now, if you don't mind..."

Harry pushed his way through, finally reaching the stairs. Walking up them, he and Ron made their way up to the tower; Alicia and Katie had managed to slip around the crowd, and were already in the common room.

Harry collapsed into an armchair, feeling worn out. Hermione looked at him sympethically, and Harry grabbed up his bag, which was lying on the floor where he left it.

Pulling out some parchment and his Transfiguration text book, Harry began McGonagall's essay, but couldn't concentrate. He put it away, pulling out a blank roll of parchment and tearing off a section of it, a section that was about equal to the length of a half-foot.

Harry wrote the positions down onto the paper:

QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS OUTCOMES:

Beater 1: SIRIUS McCARTER, YEAR 6

Beater 2: GINNY WEASLEY, YEAR 5

Chaser: JAMES POTTER, YEAR 6

Thanks to all that tried out. Practice on Sunday night. Teams are required to have an A (acceptable) average or higher in each class. A failing student will get two weeks to bring the grade up and is suspended from practices. Failure to bring the grade up results in expulsion from the team.

Harry shoved it back into his bag, careful not to let anybody see it; he didn't want anybody to know until tommorow. Not even James or Sirius.

X

Harry was up early the following morning, thanks to Peeves, who had thought it funny to put ice on his back.

Grumbling, Harry dressed, grabbing the parchment that he had written on the previous night.

Harry walked slowly down the spiraled staircase that led down to the common room, his mind wandering.

He felt so comfortable around his father and godfather. But whenever he saw Sirius, a feeling of sadness welled up inside of him. He couldn't help it... it just depressed him to see his now-deceased godfather.

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, he cast a glance around the common room. It was deserted; he doubted anybody was up yet. Striding over to the notice board. Pulling out his wand, he held the paper up to the board with one hand and pushed hard at the top of the parchment with his wand. The paper was instantly attached to the board.

Smiling slightly, knowing how James, Sirius, and Ginny would react to the news, Harry left the common room. Slowly, he walked into the Great Hall and sat at a table, nibbling on a bit of toast. Soon, his head was in his arms and he was asleep.

Merely a half-hour later, around eight-thirty, James and Sirius emerged into the Great Hall, grinning their heads off. Plopping into seats on either side of him. James prodded him hard in the ribs, and Harry bolted awake. "What was that for?" he asked crossly.

"We wanted to wake you up to let you know that we are perfectly thrilled that we made the spots," Sirius said in a mock-business like manner.

"Good for you," Harry snorted. "Now shut up and let me sleep."

With that, Harry buried his head back into his arms and his breathing became rythmatic and deep.

James cast a devilish grin at Sirius, who reached over and grabbed a can of whipped cream, which was supposed to be used on the pancakes.

James grabbed it and drew a bull's eye on the back of Harry's head. Snorting with suppressed laughter, he slid the can back to it's place.

Moments after James had completed this, Ron and Hermione walked in. Ron began to laugh, and Hermione looked cross, though a smile was tugging at the edge of her lips.

When Ron began to laugh, Harry opened one green eye and sat up, the bull's eye staying right in place. "What is it?" he asked blearily, running a hand through his hair- and stopping when he felt the whipped cream.

Remus came down just as Harry was bolting from the hall to take a shower. "Why did you put whipped cream in his hair?" Remus asked, sounding slightly exasperated.

James shrugged. "It was too easy," he said, grinning.

Harry came back ten minutes later, black hair sopping wet and looking grumpy. Grumbling under his breath, he ate breakfast with the others. Getting up from the table to go for a fly on the Quidditch pitch with Ron, Sirius, and James (Remus and Hermione were going to just watch), he headed for his dorms with the others and grabbed his broom. Emerging back into the Hall, he started for the door but was stopped by Professor Dumbledore.

"May I talk to you alone, Harry?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly. The others stopped warily, but continued after a few seconds.

"Yes, sir?" Harry asked after the others had left.

"Harry, Remus is coming to meet with me today. Would you mind keeping the Marauders away from him? He doesn't quite know that his past self is in his time, and I'm not keen on telling him."

"No problem, sir," Harry said, starting to wonder how he would do that.

"And Harry?" Dumbledore asked, looking serious.

"Yes?"

"The threat of Death Eaters invading Hogwarts had increased. Be on your watch." With that, Dumbledore left for his office, leaving a confused and dreading Harry.

X

Harry spent an enjoyable morning on the pitch with the others, only having to distract them when he saw the adult Remus Lupin coming up the grounds for his meeting with Dumbledore.

By noon, Ron, Harry, Sirius, and James were tired, but happy. There was no feeling like flying on a broomstick. Remus and Hermione rejoined them from the stands, and the six walked into lunch.

As they were eating, Lupin passed through the Great Hall, leaving his meeting with Dumbledore. James looked up, seeing Remus from the corner of his eyes.

"Hey, Moony," James hissed into Remus's ear.

(AN: I will be calling the adult Remus "Lupin" and the kid Remus "Remus".)

"Wha-" Remus began, but stopped when he saw himself.

Harry groaned softly. Sirius began to cry out to him, but Hermione, who seemed to know what was going on, clapped a hand over his mouth so he only gave a soft cry.

"Why'd you do that?" James asked as Lupin left. Harry sighed.

"Look, he's not supposed to know you're in the future," he explained, his voice sounding strained. James, Sirius, and Remus seemed to understand, because they didn't ask anymore questions.

TBC...